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Semina Aeternitatis: Using Bacteria for Tangible Interaction with Data
... In terms of microbial explorations in HCI, a variety of microbial genus and species, representing diferent types of fungi, yeasts, bacteria, and protists, etc., in both living and non-living forms, have been investigated. Such works have come in the forms of: workshops (e.g., [43,44]); theories/frameworks (e.g., [40,54,70,72,96,113,114]); reviews (e.g., [45,86,111,134]); critical/speculative designs (e.g., [32,124]); educational tools (e.g., [24,35,41,42,48,58,59,82]); sensors (e.g., [20,78]); self-trackers (e.g., [10,21]); material/system characterisations (e.g., [1, 6-8, 46, 105, 129]); biofabrications (e.g., [14,15,83,104,108,127]; artworks (e.g., [2,4,50,77,84,123]); wearables (e.g., [38,89,93,102,103,128,131]); robotics (e.g., [55,56,112]); games (e.g., [68,75,79,81,116]); and interactive public installations (e.g., [39,80,85,87]), to name a consortium of examples. ...
... In biological-HCI too, a display of livingness of microorganisms is also regarded as a desirable design element, when living artefacts are examined in terms of their function and experiential qualities. The display indicates an operational state of living artefacts [64], whilst ofering experiential potentials too, such as increased user engagement and empathy (e.g., [20,21,48,59,74,87]). Various forms of microbiological phenomena that drive livingness has been explored in HCI, ranging from growth (e.g., [46,48,75]), bioluminescence (e.g., [6,105]), movements (e.g., [59,79,87]), fermentation (e.g., [20,50]), and transgene expressions (e.g., [2,21,50]). ...
... This meant that respective levels of growth of yeast cells from each batch, as indicated by the amounts of green and red fuorescence produced, could be easily distinguished from one another when the two batches were mixed together (Fig. 8.2). Furthermore, works such as Semina Aeternitatis (Fig. 8.3) [2] and Raaz (Fig. 8.4) [50] involved encoding of a personal story (Semina Aeternitatis) and a poem (Raaz) into synthetic DNA, which were subsequently transformed into microorganisms. Here, the works highlight a potential for extrabiological (i.e., non-genetic) information to be used to alter how humans perceive and experience livingness of microbial growth and fermentation. ...
In recent years, there has been a notable proliferation and diversification of works in HCI, that integrate living microorganisms; an imperative lifeform dominating ecosystems of our planet. Yet despite the growing interest, there is a lack of structured lenses with which designers can strategize their processes of surfacing livingness; a material quality inherent in living artefacts with a potential to enrich user experiences and to initiate mutualistic care between humans and microorganisms. Through a systematic artefacts review and a case study on Flavobacteria, we have developed and instantiated a Taxonomy of Surfacing Livingness in Microbial Displays, consisting of six microbe-sensitive, tuneable mechanisms for human noticing of microorganisms: 1) Canvassing, 2) Marking, 3) Magnifying, 4) Translating, 5) Nudging, and 6) Molecular Programming. The taxonomy invites diverse and adaptable ways of generating and crafting microbial displays; towards overcoming microbe-specific surfacing constraints, integrating diverse stakeholders’ values, and enabling nuanced address of microbial welfare.
... Since then, the field has been growing rapidly with an increasing number of stakeholders from various disciplines. HBI systems for various purposes have been pursued including, but not limited to, education (Hossain et al., 2016;Washington et al., 2019), entertainment (Kim et al., 2018a;van Eck and Lamers, 2018), art and installations (Kuznetsov et al., 2018;Lam et al., 2019;Lee et al., 2020) and as a new modality for interaction (Alistar and Pevere, 2020;Merritt et al., 2020;Pataranutaporn et al., 2020;Ofer et al., 2021). In addition, dedicated user studies for HBI have been undertaken (Hossain et al., 2017b;Lam et al., 2019), providing more insight into the design of micro-HBI systems. ...
... In the HCI field, many digital systems also continued to employ microbes as a part of the interface media (Alistar and Pevere, 2020;Merritt et al., 2020). In these examples, the major purpose of living media was to reinforce psychological factors and enrich the human user's experience. ...
... Different types of microscopic materials and stimulus modalities ("bioware, " Figure 2A) have been demonstrated (Gerber et al., 2016b). For example, single-celled organisms such as Euglena (Hossain et al., 2016), paramecia (Riedel-Kruse et al., 2011), dinoflagellates (Ofer et al., 2021) and bacteria (Alistar and Pevere, 2020;Chen et al., 2021), multicelled organisms such as the slimemold physarum (Hossain et al., 2015), molecules like RNA and DNA (Stojanovic and Stefanovic, 2003;Riedel-Kruse et al., 2011;Lee et al., 2014), cell collectives (Riedel-Kruse et al., 2011;Gerber et al., 2016a), and fungi (Kim et al., 2019) have been incorporated, and others such as viruses (Kim, 2021) have been proposed. Stimulus modalities included chemicals (Riedel-Kruse et al., 2011;Hossain et al., 2015), light (Lee et al., 2015a;Hossain et al., 2016), and electric fields (Bakkum et al., 2007;Riedel-Kruse et al., 2011), and mechanical mechanisms (Ofer et al., 2021). ...
Human-Biology Interaction (HBI) is a field that aims to provide first-hand experience with living matter and the modern life-sciences to the lay public. Advances in optical, bioengineering, and digital technologies as well as interaction design now also enable real and direct experiences at the microscale, such as with living cells and molecules, motivating the sub-field of “micro-HBI.” This is distinct from simulating any biological processes. There is a significant need for HBI as new educational modalities are required to enable all strata of society to become informed about new technologies and biology in general, as we face challenges like global pandemics, environmental loss, and species extinctions. Here we review this field in order to provide a jump-off point for future work and to bring stakeholder from different disciplines together. By now, the field has explored and demonstrated many such interactive systems, the use of different microorganisms, new interaction design principles, and versatile applications, such as museum exhibits, biotic games, educational cloud labs, citizen science platforms, and hands-on do-it-yourself (DIY) Bio maker activities. We close with key open questions for the field to move forward.
... Within Human-Computer Interaction (HCI) and Interaction Design (IxD) research, biomaterials are becoming an increasingly relevant field of development as they provide sustainable alternatives to typical prototyping materials and even to electronics. Common biomaterials in this context include microbial cellulose bioleathers [4,14,15,120,123,129], mycelium biocomposites [39,60,65,69,169,170,175], bioplastics and biofoams [13,97,104,155,178], and bioclays and biopastes [16,20,29,44,147]. ...
... Bio-HCI is a rapidly growing area of research within HCI and IxD that explores the interactive capabilities that arise from combining biology with digital technologies [21,55,136]. Most works within Bio-HCI focus on developing Living Media Interfaces [114], which leverage the responsiveness of living organisms to both sense and display information to support human-digital interactions (e.g., human-plant interaction [35,71,77,84,152], living light interfaces [10,28,131], microbial displays [4,22,66,70,93,143,182]). In contrast, biomaterials derived from once-living organisms do not typically have innate computational abilities afforded by livingness [88,93]. ...
In this work, we introduce biodegradation as a process of more-than-human unmaking. We begin by positioning biodegradation amongst related works in design research before presenting a circular process of making and unmaking biomaterials and living organisms through biodegradation. To exemplify this process, we detail two existing works—ReClaym and Biomenstrual—that exemplify how biodegradability can be explored in design through different biomaterials, methods, and contexts. By diffractively reading these projects through one another, we identify six themes and corresponding suggestions for researchers engaging with biodegradation. Lastly, we discuss the broader design implications and limitations, as well as the more-than-human values that emerge from designing for biodegradation via biomaterials. Through this, we aim to provide design researchers with practical tools and insights for engaging with biodegradation to unmake anthropocentric hierarchies between humans, non-humans, and biomaterials, which in turn can promote environmental sustainability and support more-than-human collaboration and care.
... As such, this work falls into the nascent feld of Biological HCI (Bio-HCI) [11,33,54,76,86], which focuses on incorporating biological materials into design and engineering practices. Past Bio-HCI projects use biological materials such as plants [19,30,43,48,63,90], bacteria [4,42,106], slime mold [73], algae [6,55,69,83], mycelium [23,36,40,44,67,68,71,102], bacterial cellulose [2,8,38,80,82,84], and bioplastics [7,16,59,66]. Most of these works act as Living Media Interfaces (LMIs), which leverage the responsiveness of living materials to both sense and display information such as cabbage that changes color based on pH [30], house plants that physically move toward light sources [62], and dinofagellates that bioluminesce when physically stimulated [6,83]. ...
... This work is consequently limited by the social acceptability of microbes. This acceptance is further hampered by the somewhat unappealing aesthetic of the microbiome, which ties our work to other "ugly" biological interfaces such as Semina Aeternitatis [2], typeFACE font [26], E. Chromi [39] and ReClaym [10]. Despite this, we challenge users to recognize and embrace these microbes and their nonhuman aesthetics. ...
... Interactive bio-based materials: In HCI, the DIYBio [6] and wearable technology communities have been using bio-based materials to make interactive wearables [21], displays [1], or growable devices [8,20], or to design embodied interactions [13,15]. However, many designs use molding and layering fabrication techniques [19,20], which are rarely used to create garments. ...
... We used this method only when we wanted to make 2-ply biofoam yarns. 1 Wilton 55-Piece Cake Decorating Tip Set. https://tinyurl.com/4bzvcdum ...
Motivated by the growing use and incorporation of bio-based materials in textiles and wearables, we explore one of these materials' quality, dissolving, as an intentional affordance to design ephemeral wearables for fashion. We developed techniques to make biofoam strings, resembling yarns, and used them to weave, crochet, or knit three wearables: seasonal footwear, a revealing bralette, and an unfolding lace top. While being comfortable to wear and providing a unique tactile experience, the wearables dissolve in water, thus adapting to the user’s needs. The three wearables were designed with short-term use in mind from a seasonal look to a one-time reveal. These three use cases enable a new design space where revealing and ephemeral fashion can be intentional affordances when designing dissolving wearables.
... Informed by the iterations between these knowledge domains, combining system-The integration of living organisms into interactive systems is a atic lab experiments and design explorations, this work presents growing area of interest for HCI and design researchers [12, 27-the following: 29,53,65,68,74,76,77]. Organisms have, for example, been embed-• Design space introducing a variety of input mechanisms that ded in interactive installations [1,58,59], hybrid computer games influence Flavobacteria's living color output (i.e., their living [54,55,80], wearables [61,97] and interface designs [5, 13, 14, 22, 32, aesthetics), 35], in which novel functionalities and interaction possibilities are • Vocabulary to analyze and communicate Flavobacteria's livachieved through substitution of computer input and output with ing aesthetics as well as a tool to capture and characterize living media. Within this body of work, some have proposed concepthese, tual frameworks informing the HCI community on the challenges • First insights on how living aesthetics of Flavobacteria are and opportunities that arise when working with living organisms tuned with a specific input mechanism (i.e., humidity), pre- [65,77]. ...
... Recent years have seen multiple HCI projects that focus on integrating living organisms as design elements, bringing forth novel interaction possibilities between humans, computers and biological systems [53,65,74,76,77]. In these projects, bacteria [1,14], fungi [13,32], algae [5,71] and even quasi living viruses [52] have been proposed as design elements. Hamidi and Baljko [32] developed a fungus-based interface, where data about the usage of a digital app is visualized through the growth of the fruiting bodies of fungi. ...
... In recent years, the DIY movement has even engaged with biological sciences (forming DIYBio [30]) resulting in community wet-labs that provide equipment for DIYBio enthusiasts such as incubators, centrifuges, PCR machines, and spectrometers [66]. This effort to make biological equipment and procedures accessible has led to increased DIYBio experimentation within the HCI community [63] resulting in interactive interfaces made from biomaterials which include displays [9,10,15,61,70], wearable devices [6,12,34,79,112,114,118], art [2,21,62,81], instruments [57], environments [78], systems [8,46,60,67], games [24,55,56,82], and robots [22,88]. ReClaym similarly integrates DIYBio experimentation within HCI by utilizing accessible equipment and materials (e.g., kitchen utensils, personal compost) and open-source biology procedures (e.g., sterility testing [98]) to develop a biomaterial that can be utilized as sustainable interactive interfaces (e.g., environment sensing tiles and paraphernalia, and a musical instrument presented in Section 6. ...
... While food waste and compost is commonly thought of with disgust, we recognize the beauty in compost-a reflection of ourselves. However, we acknowledge that the origins of ReClaym paired with our imprecise fabrication techniques align ReClaym artifacts with priorly categorized "ugly" interfaces such as Davis' ugly typeFACE font [26], fleshy bacterial interface to store human memories [2], and Ginsberg and King's colorful poop project "E. Chromi" [41], as well as "unmade" interfaces such as Song's auto-destructive 3D models [105], and Wu's disassembling textiles [117]. ...
... In this light, we introduce five biomaterials (materials that are biobased) that can be used to create interactive interfaces and other artifacts. These biomaterials are diverse and cover living organisms as well as processed organisms, including a biodegradable clay made from our personal compost called ReClaym, an algae-based bioplastic called Alganyl [5,7], bioluminescent algae called Dinoflagellates [27], Symbiotic Cultures of Bacteria and Yeast grown in kombucha called SCOBY [1] and a nutrient-dense biomass of cyanobacteria called Spirulina. HCI designers and researchers, including us the authors, have designed interfaces, interactions, and experiences with these biomaterials that highlight the role of discourse on sustainability and more-than-human thinking in HCI. ...
... In this light, biomaterials (materials of biological origin [29]) act as a unique and exciting spring-board for the conception of new tangible interfaces. Biomaterials have currently been used within the field of HCI to create a variety of interactive interfaces including displays [5,6,21,24,36], wearable devices [2,7,14,26,38,39,44], art [1,9,22,28], instruments [20], systems [4,15,16,23], games [11,18,19,23,27], and robots [10,30]. The use of biomaterials in interface design not only highlights a trend towards sustainability in HCI [8,25,32], but also towards more-than-human design goals that consider the interdependencies of humans and other living things [12,34]. ...
... Over the past several decades, numerous bio-artists have been exploring DNA-data storage. From texts, such as a passage from The Book of Genesis [45], Universal Declaration of Human Rights [42], personal stories [1], and poetry [34], to audio (music) [43], and symbolic images [17,79], a wide range of types and formats of information have been artistically encoded, decoded, materialized, and disseminated, via DNA. ...
... In HCI, Alistar and Pevere's Semina Aeternitatis (2020) [1] encoded a personal story (told by a female octogenarian neuroscientist) in DNA, which was subsequently inserted into bacteria Komagataeibacter rhaeticus, using molecular cloning techniques. Through the resulting bioflm produced by the microbe's DNA translation machinery, memories of the elderly scientist were rendered tangible, allowing for physical interactions that engages human senses of smell, touch, and taste. ...
DNA-based digital data storage technology is hailed as a potential solution for the issues around exponential global data production. However, while the technology continues to strive towards its full commercialization, there is a lack of discourse on how it could be applied to facilitate interactions that are meaningful, ethical, and socially sustainable. As an approach to address this gap, we hosted a series of online workshops, soliciting 15 participants to engage in grounded speculations on plausible futures of DNA data storage. Themes drawn from the resulting imaginaries and discussions were situated within a selection of existing HCI literature, to generate an initial set of design opportunities and challenges for DNA data storage. Early analysis suggests that the system could be designed to 1) facilitate meaningful interactions that are intangible and molecular, and 2) foster better human relationship with more-than-human entities. Furthermore, we highlight the imperative for cross-disciplinary collaborations and pedagogy, to ensure fair and high quality access to the technology.
... Recently, HCI researchers have begun incorporating biological materials into their practices, resulting in a range of interfaces that include displays [13,53,65,92], art [4,54,75], instruments [51], environments [70], systems [11,40,60], games [22,49,50,73], robots [20,77], and wearable devices [7,32,71,99,101,102]. Moreover, the "material-turn" in HCI [84] encourages researchers to take inspiration from materials themselves to arrive at a design concept, as opposed to forcing a material to fit a predetermined design concept. ...
... Moreover, the resources for the DIYBio community have flourished-from community wet-labs that provide equipment [59] to online instruction manuals [44]. The rise of DIYBio has also prompted collaborations with the human-computer interaction (HCI) community to create a wide range of interactive interfaces [4,11,40,71,73,99,102]. ...
... bioLogic [81] embeds flaps containing natto cells that act as biosensors in a dancer's costume: the natto cells can detect moisture from the dancers' body (sweat) and actuate the flaps to allow air circulation. Semina Aeternitatis [1] engineers K. rhaeticus to create a tangible interface, telling a story that can be touched, smelled, and tasted. ...
... As designers continuously attempt to create meaningful interactions, we believe that a "symmetrical" interaction between the human and the organism can account for an interaction that stands beyond just delight or satisfaction, and towards the notion of "life as a shared experience" [1,35,51,60]. Our framework emphasizes and prioritizes the livingness quality of the organism and the importance of considering the well-being of the organism in order to design interactions that hold life at the center of the experience. ...
... Mostly consisting of the microbial variety, these so-called "living materials" have been presented and discussed in interaction design research through various domains. These include interactive public installations (e.g., [3,44,45]), hybrid computer games (e.g., [32,34,41]), bio-fabrications (e.g., [71,78]), sustainable e-wearables (e.g., [55,72]), and growable robotics (e.g., [58]), to name just some of the examples from the continually expanding portfolio. ...
... First is virology. While the HCI community have so far witnessed increasing collaborative research between interaction designers and those from various branches of microbiology -namely bacteriology (e.g., [3,39,40]) and mycology (e.g., [42,48,78]) -projects that cross-pollinate with virology have not yet been materialized. The pheno and genotypic idiosyncrasies that distinguish viruses from other microbial lifeforms inevitably change the protocols involved for study, as well as research agenda of those that work with them. ...
The interaction design research community continues to benefit from material-focused approaches, and from the diversity of materials under investigation. One category of such material is bio-materials of microbial origin, such as bacteria, mycelium, moulds, and Euglena. However, despite the increasing momentum towards bio-material based research, one type that is yet to be investigated in HCI, is viruses; an infectious, sub-microscopic, quasi-living, computational bio-agent. This paper initiates exploration of Human-Virus Interaction (HVI), through a material lens. This was achieved first by generating a literature-based material profile sketch of viruses, highlighting some of their distinct and/or unique material properties, characteristics, composition, and meaning. The components of the profile were then used as anchor points, to unpack the practical, ethical, and philosophical implications that are associated with viruses, and those that could be considered by researchers to help in their preparation of working with viruses in interaction design.
... systems that incorporate living organisms, such as plants [22], bacteria [36] or fungi [20], among others [40]. Recent projects have explored the functional and aesthetic qualities of these hybrid Living Media Interfaces (LMIs) [40] in educational and therapeutic applications [20,36], for data visualization [15], and more rarely in interactive art installations [1]. This growing body of research has shown that LMIs can support engaging and meaningful interactions, while also raising ethical and practical concerns. ...
... A few recent projects have more directly explored the intersection of bioart and HCI. Alistar and Pevere created a tangible bioart installation that embedded the memories of an elderly participant that were recorded, transcribed and encoded into DNA code before being inserted into the cells of Komagataeibacter rhaeticus bacteria [1]. In addition to describing their process of encoding text information into the DNA of living organisms, the authors discussed the characteristics of living organisms as tangible living media that in comparison with digital physical computing components, may create a sense of relatability in human audiences, provide opportunities for rapid replicability (through cellular reproduction) as well as slower response time and increased chance of contamination. ...
... Recent research has explored the intersection of HCI and bioart by undertaking hands-on projects [3,47,48] and developing metaanalysis of bioart and biodesign perspectives [56]. In this paper, we contribute to the conversation between HCI and bioart by presenting results from an interview study with expert bioartists in which we asked the artists about their perspectives on working at the intersection of biology and art, followed by a frst-hand account of our interdisciplinary team's experience with conceptualizing and conducting a bioart project in a DIYbio lab. ...
... Finally, in the Trap It! museum installation, users could view Euglena gracilis microorganisms through a magnifying glass and interact with them through a touchscreen and optical hardware [49] .A few recent projects have specifcally focused on exploring the intersection of bioart and HCI, viewing bioart as a site of cultural production and interrogation that through its material entanglement with both digital and biological entities may open up new opportunities for interdisciplinary discussion. Alistar and Pevere created a tangible bioart installation that embedded the memories of an elderly participant that were recorded, transcribed and encoded into DNA code before being inserted into the cells of Komagataeibacter rhaeticus bacteria [3]. In addition to describing their process of encoding text information into the DNA of living organisms, the authors discussed the characteristics of living organisms as tangible living media that, in comparison with digital physical computing components, may create a sense of relatability in human audiences and provide opportunities for rapid replicability (through cellular reproduction), as well as having a slower response time and increased chance of contamination. ...
... Additionally, we hope to leverage this SIG as a starting point for hosting future workshops and events, or publishing position papers to delve deeper into specific topics and challenges uncovered during these discussions. [2,5,8,9,11,21,28]. She has developed tangible living-media interfaces [18,26,34], and biochip-based systems for personalized healthcare [1,3,4]. ...
Biological Human-Computer Interaction (Bio-HCI) investigates the dynamic relationship between humans, computers, and biological systems. There has been a growing interest in integrating biological components into wearable human-computer interactions to expand their functional capabilities, material options, and design processes. Researchers have explored novel systems such as biofluid sensing for personal health, sustainable fabrication practices using bioma-terials for creating wearables, and integrating living matter into wearable forms. However, as a rapidly growing, multidisciplinary field, Wearable Bio-HCI faces unique challenges and opportunities that demand collective efforts from a diverse group of researchers and practitioners. In this special interest group, we aim to gather researchers who are in this field or interested in integrating Bio-HCI approaches for creating novel interactive wearables. Our goal is to identify, brainstorm, and discuss challenges and opportunities that are unique to wearable Bio-HCI explorations. We aim to generate ideas on community engagement and cross-disciplinary collaboration for future research.
... Designers and HCI researchers have engaged in practical work that attempts to enhance the experiential qualities and understanding of organisms, developing what feminist and biologist Fox Keller (1983) would call 'a feeling for the organism' [34]. These can be found particularly in the fields of Biological HCI [16,20,24,25,53] and Microbe-HCI [2,[36][37][38]. For instance, Chen et al. [9] developed a human-microbial vocal interface in a fermentation bucket to 'foster human affective emotion toward fermentative microbes'. ...
... Biodesign is an approach that focuses on developing and designing with biological matter, living organisms, and bio-derivatives that readily degrade in the environment. HCI researchers have created interactive designs and electronic components with bioplastics [2,36,38,65], mycelium [24,70,72], compostable clay-like materials [6,10,55], microbial cellulose [1,3,47,48], slime mold [40], leaf skeletons [66], and microbes [7,26,34], among many others [42,49,76]. More generally, readily degradable materials have been used to craft electronics that are temporary [68] or functionally destructive [14]. ...
... Popular biomaterials include mycelium [16,22,23,29,63,64,68,69], bioplastics [4,34,39,58], biofoams [38,53,62], bioclays [10,14,55], and microbial cellulose [1,6,8,46,49]. Given the tangible materiality of these biomaterials, they have gained significant interest in the TEI community, with successful studios being held at TEI'22 [5] and TEI'23 [7] about bioplastics and microbial cellulose, respectively. ...
In this studio, we will explore sustainable tangible interfaces by making a range of biomaterials that are bio-based and readily biodegradable. Building off of previous TEI studios that were centered around one specific biomaterial (i.e., bioplastics at TEI’22 and microbial cellulose at TEI’23), this studio will provide participants the ability to experience a wide variety of biomaterials from algae-based bioplastics, to food-waste-based bioclays, to gelatin-based biofoams. We will teach participants how to identify types of biomaterials that are applicable to their own research and how to make them. Through hands-on activities, we will demonstrate how to implement biomaterials in the design of sustainable tangible interfaces and discuss topics sensitized by biological media such as more-than-human temporalities, bioethics, care, and unmaking. Ultimately, our goal is to facilitate a space in which HCI researchers and designers can collaborate, create, and discuss the opportunities and challenges of working with sustainable biomaterials.
... Because kombucha SCOBY is a safe and accessible biomaterial to work with in at-home settings, it has a widespread presence in the Do-It-Yourself-Biology (DIYBio) [3,48] and biodesign [16,55] communities. Within Bio-HCI, living SCOBY biofilm has been genetically engineered to make storage devices for memories [2] and glow-in-thedark displays [28]. It has also been used to inspire the design of probes that facilitate sensorial experiences with living matter [61] and as conversational AI agents in the home [57]. ...
We explore how actively engaging with the temporalities of a nonhuman organism can lead to multispecies understanding. To do so, we design a bio-digital calendar that brings attention to the growth and health of kombucha SCOBY, a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast that lives in a tea medium. The non-invasive bio-digital calendar surrounds the kombucha SCOBY to track (via sensors) and enhance (via sound) its growth. As we looked at and listened to our kombucha SCOBY calendar on a daily basis, we became attuned to the slowness of kombucha SCOBY. This multisensory noticing practice with the calendar, in turn, destabilized our preconceived human-centered positionality, leading to a more humble, decentered relationship between us and the organism. Through our experiences with the bio-digital calendar, we gained a better relational multispecies understanding of temporalities based on care, which, in the long term, might be a solution to a more sustainable future.
... Furthermore, designer Suzanne Lee crafted a jacket made out of kombucha SCOBY (Symbiotic Culture Of Bacteria and Yeast), and Aniela Hoitink from Dutch start-up NEFFA [14] made pieces of clothing from mycelium. The DIYBio [6] and wearable technology communities in HCI have also embraced bio-based materials for creating interactive wearables [24], displays [1], or growable devices [9,22], or to design embodied interactions [15,16]. While many of these designs rely on molding and layering fabrication techniques [21,22], hand-craft techniques have been rarely employed. ...
... There is a growing interest among design and HCI communities in integrating living organisms into artefacts as interactive design elements [27,34,36]. In these living artefacts, microorganisms, such as algae [9,35], bacteria [6,20], and fungi [15,22], offer unique responsive behaviours to achieve novel functions, expressions, and interaction possibilities. ...
Integrating microorganisms into artefacts is a growing area of interest for HCI designers. However, the time, resources, and knowledge required to understand complex microbial behaviour limits designers from creatively exploring temporal expressions in living artefacts, i.e., living aesthetics. Bridging biodesign and computer graphics, we developed FlavoMetrics, an interactive digital tool that supports biodesigners in exploring Flavobacteria's living aesthetics. This open-source tool enables designers to virtually inoculate bacteria and manipulate stimuli to tune Flavobacteria's living colour in a digital environment. Six biodesigners evaluated the tool and reflected on its implications for their practices, for example, in (1) understanding spatio-temporal qualities of microorganisms beyond 2D, (2) biodesign education, and (3) the experience prototyping of living artefacts. With FlavoMetrics, we hope to inspire novel HCI tools for accessible and time-and resource-efficient biodesign as well as for better alignment with divergent microbial temporalities in living with living artefacts.
... Over the past decade, researchers have explored the ability of living organisms to produce and to surface specific outputs (e.g., growth, movement, compounds, etc.) that can be detected by the human and digital sensors, as part of interactive interfaces. Outcomes of such explorations have included wearable devices [3,4,13,34,42,51,53,53,58] to musical instruments [31], built environments [41], food [12], games [11,21,30], digital data storage and translation systems [1,10,22,28], and robots [25,44] etc., demonstrating a rich spectrum of research in HCI that engages with microbes. They come together to form a theme (and a special interest group) that we identify as microbial-HCI, or microbe-HCI [29]. ...
... In the art space, notable works include Catts and Zurr's semiliving sculptures [15], Giulini's "Bodypuppets" [29], and Lynch's "Gut Feelings" [57]. Alistar and Pevere genetically engineered acetobacter biofilm to act as a living storage device for memories [1], and Gilbert et al. genetically engineered glow-in-the-dark biofilm displays [28]. Notable commercial products include Bucha Bio's Shorai material [11], Kombucha Biomaterials' rolling papers [12], and InnoCell's food packaging and dishware [20]. ...
... Recognizing microbes' signifcance, the last few years have seen a notable rise in HCI-related publications that implicate the organisms in design. They fall into a spectrum of often overlapping genres including, but not exclusive to: Interactive installations [1,20,21], games [12,14,17,30], biofabrications [31,33,34], educational tools [6,8,9,11,19], wearables [24,32], critical designs [5], interfaces [23,29,35], robotics [27], sensors [16], and self-trackers [3]. ...
Microbe-HCI is a community whose works implicate micro-organisms in HCI. This special interest group is a venue for the first gathering of the community, offering an opportunity for networking and structured discussions. It encourages participation from both active and new researchers to microbe-HCI, with the objective of acquiring an overview of people, themes, trends, and prospective research pathways for the community.
... Communicating personal activity data through the growth and development of a living plant display has shown to elicit feelings such as pride, guilt or affection in participants (Botros et al., 2016;Holstius et al., 2004;Kuribayashi & Wakita, 2006). Alistar & Pevere (2020) argue that living matter as an interface, in their case bacteria, supports relatability in people due to the shared experience of being alive. ...
... Besides using bio-based materials in physical fabrication, HCI and design have also seen potential in using living organisms to explore and enhance embodied interactions. For instance, researchers have used microbes [25,46] as living sensors and actuators to design interactive systems [1]. Similarly, Ofer et al. [32] has explored the unique afordances of incorporating bioluminescent algae in their design since these living organisms visibly respond to human interaction. ...
Each new material developed opens a broader pallet of aesthetic and functional possibilities for designers. This paper introduces DIS to biofoam, a material that is water-soluble, biodegradable, and can be made conductive. We describe the material in detail: the process of making the material from scratch, the material’s fabrication into forms with hand-craft techniques, and present two HCI specific applications of the biofoam. The biofoam can be cooked, molded, layered, extruded, dissolved, or recooked opening up possibilities to consider the entire life cycle of the material in the design process. We contribute design considerations to allow designers to “tune” the biofoam to the desired quality, as well as a characterization of many aspects of the biofoam such as compression, spring back time, water permeability, and electrical conductivity. Finally, we discuss the unique opportunities this material and its life cycle bring to the design and HCI communities.
... Within HCI, LMIs have been used in a range of applications, including learning (Kafai et al., 2017;Walker and Kafai, 2021), environmental awareness (Holstius et al., 2004), ambient data visualization (e.g., Kuribayashi et al., 2007), behavior change (e.g., Holstius et al., 2004), artistic expression (e.g., Alistar and Pevere, 2020), and entertainment (e.g., Poupyrev et al., 2012). Many of these applications are built on the premise that interacting with living organisms is engaging and motivating for users (Hamidi and Melanie, 2017), can lead to valuable and long-lasting learning outcomes (Kafai et al., 2017), and that living media are especially suited for the representation and communication of environmental and ecological data (Holstius et al., 2004). ...
Living organisms and their biological properties, including the capacity for transformation and representation of information, offer exciting and inspiring opportunities for transdisciplinary art and design explorations. While an emerging body of work is increasingly investigating the possibilities at the intersection of interactive computing, biology, and art, more work is needed to investigate the potential of these approaches for supporting community and public engagement and participation in art, science, and technology. In this project, we describe a multimedia transdisciplinary bioart installation and hands-on agar art activity that we presented to members of the public in a community biology lab setting. Using short interviews, observations, and questionaries, we investigated attendees' reactions and impressions of the experience and found that the event generated transdisciplinary reflections, invited participants to bring their previous knowledge and experience to bear in engaging with different aspects of the work, and that the audience benefited from contextualization by artists.
... The recent advancements in biological sciences, coupled with the efforts of the DIY-bio community to make biological tools and procedures accessible (DIYbio, n.d.;Kuznetsov et al., 2015), have sparked an increased interest within the HCI research community to work with biological materials as part of displays Luchtman & Siebenhaar, n.d.), interfaces (Alistar & Pevere, 2020;Merritt et al., 2020;Ofer et al., 2021;Salem et al., 2008;Tanaka & Kuribayashi, 2007;Yao et al., 2015), and systems (Holstius et al., 2004;S. A. Lee et al., 2015). ...
En este artículo presentamos Alganyl, un biotextil creado a partir del conocimiento corporizado que suscita cocinar. Basado en recetas Do-It-Yourself (DIY) existentes para producir bioplásticos, Alganyl es fabricado con recursos renovables, se siente como vinilo al tacto y puede ser reutilizado antes de ser convertido en compost. Hemos esbozado tres principios rectores para diseñar con Alganyl: materialidad, accesibilidad y sustentabilidad. Nuestro proceso, que es replicable, incluye la cocción del Alganyl en la cocina del diseñador, para luego cortar el material y sellarlo con calor para crear la ropa. Aplicamos estos principios y procesos de diseño para confeccionar tres prendas de Alganyl: un vestido, una blusa y una falda. Por último, abordamos el ciclo de vida de Alganyl, prestando especial atención al final de la vida de la ropa, que abordamos mediante la recocción y la biodegradación (60 días para degradar el 97%). Luego de nuestras experiencias con Alganyl, creemos que tiene el potencial de acercarnos a un futuro en que la ropa se convierta en una forma autónoma de autoexpresión, con un impacto mínimo en el medio ambiente.
... Recently, HCI researchers have begun incorporating biological materials into their practices, resulting in a range of interfaces that include displays [8,9,39,49,66], art [2,40,57], instruments [37], environments [53], systems [6,29,46], games [18,35,36,55], robots [16,59], and wearable devices [3,10,25,54,72,74,75]. This natural integration of biomaterials into interface design has stemmed from the rising Do-It-Yourself Biology (DIY Bio) movement which applies a DIY ethos (make an item yourself rather than purchase the item or pay someone else to make the item [42]) to traditional biology. ...
... Biological arts remains a field with morphing boundaries. Its core moves along multiple trajectories that traverse engagement with living biological matter, including ethics (Zurr & Catts 2004), multispecies ecologies (Bates 2013), manipulation of organisms or parts of them (Menezes 2003), entwinement with biotechnology (Gessert 2010;Alistar & Pevere 2020), and more-than-human agency (Schubert 2017;Rapp 2020). ...
This is part 3 of 6 of the dossier What do we talk about when we talk about queer death?, edited by M. Petricola. The contributions collected in this article sit at the crossroads between thanatology, critical animal studies, and the posthumanities and tackle questions such as: how can queer death studies deconstruct our perception of non-human deaths? How can we rethink hu- man death from a non-anthropocentric perspective? And how can queer death studies approach the COVID-19 pandemic? The present article includes the following contributions: – Beccaro C. and Tuckett M., The life cycle of the agaonidae wasp: death, queerness, and the shattering of the human; – Langhi R., Corpses are remains: queering human/animal boundaries across death; – Véliz S., Tilting points of reference: how nonhuman death narratives unsettle research; – Varino S., (Un)doing viral time: queer temporalities of living & dying in pandemic times; – Pevere M., Recalcitrant by nature: queering death through biological art practice
Keywords:
... Biological arts remains a field with morphing boundaries. Its core moves along multiple trajectories that traverse engagement with living biological matter, including ethics (Zurr & Catts 2004), multispecies ecologies (Bates 2013), manipulation of organisms or parts of them (Menezes 2003), entwinement with biotechnology (Gessert 2010;Alistar & Pevere 2020), and more-than-human agency (Schubert 2017;Rapp 2020). ...
This is part 3 of 6 of the dossier What do we talk about when we talk about queer death?, edited by M. Petricola. The contributions collected in this article sit at the crossroads between thanatology, critical animal studies, and the posthumanities and tackle questions such as: how can queer death studies deconstruct our perception of non-human deaths? How can we rethink human death from a non-anthropocentric perspective? And how can queer death studies approach the COVID-19 pandemic?
The present article includes the following contributions: – Beccaro C. and Tuckett M., The life cycle of the agaonidae wasp: death, queerness, and the shattering of the human; – Langhi R., Corpses are remains: queering human/animal boundaries across death; – Véliz S., Tilting points of reference: how nonhuman death narratives unsettle research; – Varino S., (Un)doing viral time: queer temporalities of living & dying in pandemic times; – Pevere M., Recalcitrant by nature: queering death through biological art practice.
... Recognizing microbes' signifcance, the last few years have seen a notable rise in HCI-related publications that implicate the organisms in design. They fall into a spectrum of often overlapping genres including, but not exclusive to: Interactive installations [1,20,21], games [12,14,17,30], biofabrications [31,33,34], educational tools [6,8,9,11,19], wearables [24,32], critical designs [5], interfaces [23,29,35], robotics [27], sensors [16], and self-trackers [3]. ...
Microbe-HCI is a community whose works implicate micro-organisms in HCI. This special interest group is a venue for the first gathering of the community, offering an opportunity for networking and structured discussions. It encourages participation from both active and new researchers to microbe-HCI, with the objective of acquiring an overview of people, themes, trends, and prospective research pathways for the community.
... Our work is placed at the intersection of textiles and biomaterials, a recent focus of the HCI research [42,54,76]. Examples of recent works include BioLogic that uses natto cells as an actuator for shape-changing interfaces [76], Living Color that explores the possibilities of bacteria as a pigment [15] and Semina Aeternitatis that use genetically-engineered biofilm as data storage [4]. Worth mentioning is the important role that the DIYbio community has played in making biological tools and procedures accessible to HCI researchers [24,36]. ...
This work introduces “destaining” as an interactive component
for the HCI community. While staining happens unintentionally
(e.g., spilling coffee), destaining can be used as an intentional design
tool that selectively degrades stains on textiles. We explore the
design space using silver doped titanium dioxide (TiO2/Ag), stains
and light as a set of design primitives for interactive systems. We
then developed replicable and accessible fabrication and testing
methods that enable HCI researchers and designers to upgrade
various fabrics to self-destaining textiles. Next, we demonstrate
a Self-deStaining textile interface with embedded Light Emitting
Diodes (LEDs) and moisture sensors that activate cleaning.
Microbes offer designers opportunities to endow artefacts with
environmental sensing and adapting abilities, and unique expressions. However, microbe-embedded artefacts present a challenge of temporal dissonance, reflected by a “time lag” typically experienced by humans in noticing the gradual and minute shifts in microbial metabolism. This could compromise fluency of interactions and may hinder timely noticing and attending to microbes in living
artefacts. In addressing this challenge, we introduce Cyano-chromic
Interface, in which photosynthetic activity of cyanobacteria (Synechocystis sp. PCC6803) is timely surfaced by an electrochromic (EC) material through its monochromatic display. Grounded through interface performance characterization and design primitives, we developed application concepts through which we instantiate how the interface can be tuned for diverse functional and experiential outcomes in living artefacts. We further discuss the potential of aligning human-microbe temporalities for enriched interactions and reciprocal relationships with microbes, and beyond.
Given the importance of affective touch in human interactions, technology designers are increasingly attempting to bring this modality to the core of interactive technology. Advances in haptics and touch-sensing technology have been critical to fostering interest in this area. In this survey, we review how affective touch is investigated to enhance and support the human experience with or through technology. We explore this question across three different research areas to highlight their epistemology, main findings, and the challenges that persist. First, we review affective touch technology through the human–computer interaction literature to understand how it has been applied to the mediation of human–human interaction and its roles in other human interactions particularly with oneself, augmented objects/media, and affect-aware devices. We further highlight the datasets and methods that have been investigated for automatic detection and interpretation of affective touch in this area. In addition, we discuss the modalities of affective touch expressions in both humans and technology in these interactions. Second, we separately review how affective touch has been explored in human–robot and real-human–virtual-human interactions where the technical challenges encountered and the types of experience aimed at are different. We conclude with a discussion of the gaps and challenges that emerge from the review to steer research in directions that are critical for advancing affective touch technology and recognition systems. In our discussion, we also raise ethical issues that should be considered for responsible innovation in this growing area.
In response to recent calls for HCI to address ongoing environmental crises and existential threats, this paper introduces the concept of collaborative survival and examines how it shapes the design of interactive artifacts. Collaborative survival describes how our (human) ability to persist as a species is deeply entangled with and dependent upon the health of a multitude of other species. We explore collaborative survival within the context of designing tools for mushroom foraging and reflect on how interactive products can open new pathways for noticing and joining-with these entanglements towards preferable futures. In addition to highlighting three tactics-engagement, attunement and expansion-that can guide designs towards multispecies flourishing, our prototypes illustrate the potential for wearable technology to extend the body into the environment.
This paper describes an eighteen-month ethnography of timber framing at a tiny house construction program in Port Townsend, Washington. This case exposes the intricate, ongoing processes that define a project where people learn to imagine, create, and ultimately maintain living materials. This case sheds light on the nature and scope of interaction design with living materials, an area of growing significance to HCI scholarship on new materials, sustainable design, and digital fabrication. Drawing from this project, we distill five lessons for design with living, finite materials. We end by discussing three emerging areas for HCI: designing for material recuperation, collaborating with more-than-human actors, and approaching material properties as prototyping sites.
The paper engages with a variety of data around a supposedly single biomedical event, that of heart transplantation. In conventional discourse, organ transplantation constitutes an unproblematised form of spare part surgery in which failing biological components are replaced by more efficient and enduring ones, but once that simple picture is complicated by employing a radically interdisciplinary approach, any biomedical certainty is profoundly disrupted. Our aim, as a cross-sectorial partnership, has been to explore the complexities of heart transplantation by explicitly entangling research from the arts, biosciences and humanities without privileging any one discourse. It has been no easy enterprise yet it has been highly productive of new insights. We draw on our own ongoing funded research with both heart donor families and recipients to explore our different perceptions of what constitutes data and to demonstrate how the dynamic entangling of multiple data produces a constitutive assemblage of elements in which no one can claim priority. Our claim is that the use of such research assemblages and the collaborations that we bring to our project breaks through disciplinary silos to enable a fuller comprehension of the significance and experience of heart transplantation in both theory and practice.
We present EarthTones, cosmetic-inspired wearable chemical sensing powders to detect and display harmful environmental factors through color change. We seek to create an analog display experience through chemical reactions that overcome current constraints of rigid, battery-laden wearable displays. We designed three unique chemical changing powders to reflect elevated levels of carbon monoxide (CO), ultraviolet (UV) rays, and ozone (O3). The powders achieve color changes distinguishable to the human eye, while maintaining an aesthetic appeal to the wearer. Our technical evaluations confirmed the performance of the powders to detect and display elevated levels. An 18-person exploratory study provided insight to the perceptions, possibilities, and challenges of a powder form factor for wearable environmental visualization. Through this paper, we intend to enable the use of colorimetric chemical displays for HCI researchers and designers. More generally, we seek to encourage the research and use of chemical-based sensors and interdisciplinary research in HCI.
Significance
Bacterial cellulose is a remarkable material that is malleable, biocompatible, and over 10-times stronger than plant-based cellulose. It is currently used to create materials for tissue engineering, medicine, defense, electronics, acoustics, and fabrics. We describe here a bacterial strain that is readily amenable to genetic engineering and produces high quantities of bacterial cellulose in low-cost media. To reprogram this organism for biotechnology applications, we created a set of genetic tools that enables biosynthesis of patterned cellulose, functionalization of the cellulose surface with proteins, and tunable control over cellulose production. This greatly expands our ability to control and engineer new cellulose-based biomaterials, offering numerous applications for basic research, materials science, and biotechnology.
Uncontainable Life: A Biophilosophy of Bioart investigates the ways in which thinking through the contemporary hybrid artistico-scientific practices of bioart is a biophilosophical practice, one that contributes to a more nuanced understanding of life than we encounter in mainstream academic discourse. When examined from a Deleuzian feminist perspective and in dialogue with contemporary bioscience, bioartistic projects reveal the inadequacy of asking about life’s essence. They expose the enmeshment between the living and non-living, organic and inorganic, and, ultimately, life and death. Instead of examining the defining criteria of life, bioartistic practices explore and enact life as processual, differential, and always already uncontainable, thus transcending preconceived material and conceptual boundaries.
In this way, this doctoral thesis concentrates on the ontology of life as it emerges through the selected bioartworks: “semi-living” sculptures created by The Tissue Culture and Art Project and the performance May the Horse Live in Me (2011) by L’Art Orienté Objet. The hope is that such an ontology can enable future conceptualisations of an ethico-politics that avoids the anthropocentric logic dominant in the humanities and social sciences.
available at: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:liu:diva-126670
DIYbio (Do It Yourself Biology) aims to 'open source', tinker and experiment with biology outside of professional settings. In this paper, we present the origins, practices, and challenges of DIYbio initiatives around the world. Our findings depict DIYbio as operating across intersections ('seams') between a range of stakeholders, materials and concerns. To map out the role of Human Computer Interaction (HCI) across these seams, we present design exercises (functional prototypes) that explore three areas for future work: internal collaboration tools within the DIYbio and professional community; mechanisms for external communication with stakeholders from the general public; and bio-electronic assemblies of organic and digital materials. In doing so, we hope to critically re-envision the role of HCI at the emerging intersection of biology, computation and DIY.
Digital production, transmission and storage have revolutionized how we access and use information but have also made archiving an increasingly complex task that requires active, continuing maintenance of digital media. This challenge has focused some interest on DNA as an attractive target for information storage because of its capacity for high-density information encoding, longevity under easily achieved conditions and proven track record as an information bearer. Previous DNA-based information storage approaches have encoded only trivial amounts of information or were not amenable to scaling-up, and used no robust error-correction and lacked examination of their cost-efficiency for large-scale information archival. Here we describe a scalable method that can reliably store more information than has been handled before. We encoded computer files totalling 739 kilobytes of hard-disk storage and with an estimated Shannon information of 5.2 × 10(6) bits into a DNA code, synthesized this DNA, sequenced it and reconstructed the original files with 100% accuracy. Theoretical analysis indicates that our DNA-based storage scheme could be scaled far beyond current global information volumes and offers a realistic technology for large-scale, long-term and infrequently accessed digital archiving. In fact, current trends in technological advances are reducing DNA synthesis costs at a pace that should make our scheme cost-effective for sub-50-year archiving within a decade.
Games are a significant and defining part of human culture, and their utility beyond pure entertainment has been demonstrated with so-called 'serious games'. Biotechnology--despite its recent advancements--has had no impact on gaming yet. Here we propose the concept of 'biotic games', i.e., games that operate on biological processes. Utilizing a variety of biological processes we designed and tested a collection of games: 'Enlightenment', 'Ciliaball', 'PAC-mecium', 'Microbash', 'Biotic Pinball', 'POND PONG', 'PolymerRace', and 'The Prisoner's Smellemma'. We found that biotic games exhibit unique features compared to existing game modalities, such as utilizing biological noise, providing a real-life experience rather than virtual reality, and integrating the chemical senses into play. Analogous to video games, biotic games could have significant conceptual and cost-reducing effects on biotechnology and eventually healthcare; enable volunteers to participate in crowd-sourcing to support medical research; and educate society at large to support personal medical decisions and the public discourse on bio-related issues.
Living media interfaces (LMIs) have emerged as a new way to interact with digital systems by incorporating actual living organisms in user interfaces. There is increasing interest in utilizing living media in the context of interaction design influenced by recent advancements in biological sciences that make new forms of responsive living media possible. We establish a definition of LMIs appropriate for HCI’s interdisciplinary domain. We provide an overview of the current design space and identify open research questions from four different perspectives: Biological, Ethical, Artistic, and HCI. For each perspective, we use a series of LMI exemplars to illustrate and ground themes and arguments. We conclude with a series of implications for design, including a discussion of LMIs’ ability to engage human users through being alive, their potential to symbolize and embody dynamic information, and the practical and ethical questions that designers need to consider when working with them.
Our work links hybrid practices from biology, fine arts, and design in a studio setting to support materially-oriented engagement with biotechnology. Using autoethnographic methods, we present our two-year process of converting an HCI studio into a BSL-1 (biosafety level 1) facility, our iterative development of low-cost tools, and our own self-reflexive experimentation with (DIY)bio protocols. Insights from this work led us to design a weeklong bioart course, whereby junior highschool students creatively "painted" with bacteria and antibiotic substances, digitally designed stencils from the resulting petri dish images, and screenprinted them onto physical artifacts. Our findings reveal the nuances of working with biological, analog, and digital materials in a design studio setting. We conclude by reflecting on DIYbio studio as a gathering of diverse actors who work with hybrid materials to give physical form to matters of concern.
Digital living media systems consist of living organisms combined with electronic components and can reflect or represent information to users (e.g., as an ambient display). We have developed, Rafigh, a digital living media system that utilizes the growth rate of a living mushroom colony to reflect users' digital application use. We used Rafigh to study how digital living media systems can 1) motivate children to use therapeutic and/or learning digital applications, and 2) increase communication and collaboration in the home setting. We conducted two in situ case studies with four children and their caregivers which showed that the system successfully motivated two of the children to use target applications and created communication and collaboration in the home setting. Additionally, the two children were not deterred by the slow changes in the system. We discuss the implications for using digital living media systems to engage and motivate children through dynamics of caring and responsibility.
We developed a concept of transformative appetite, where edible 2D films made of common food materials (protein, cellulose or starch) can transform into 3D food during cooking. This transformation process is triggered by water adsorption, and it is strongly compatible with the 'flat packaging' concept for substantially reducing shipping costs and storage space. To develop these transformable foods, we performed material-based design, established a hybrid fabrication strategy, and conducted performance simulation. Users can customize food shape transformations through a pre-defined simulation platform, and then fabricate these designed patterns using additive manufacturing. Three application techniques are provided - 2D-to-3D folding, hydration-induced wrapping, and temperature-induced self-fragmentation, to present the shape, texture, and interaction with food materials. Based on this concept, several dishes were created in the kitchen, to demonstrate the futuristic dining experience through materials-based interaction design.
In this paper we present Organic Primitives, an enabling toolbox that expands upon the library of input-output devices in HCI and facilitates the design of interactions with organic, fluid-based systems. We formulated color, odor and shape changing material primitives which act as sensor-actuators that convert pH signals into human-readable outputs. Food-grade organic molecules anthocyanin, vanillin, and chitosan were employed as dopants to synthesize materials which output a spectrum of colors, degrees of shape deformation, and switch between odorous and non-odorous states. We evaluated the individual output properties of our sensor-actuators to assess the rate, range, and reversibility of the changes as a function of pH 2-10. We present a design space with techniques for enhancing the functionality of the material primitives, and offer passive and computational methods for controlling the material interfaces. Finally, we explore applications enabled by Organic Primitives under four contexts: environmental, cosmetic, edible, and interspecies.
We present BacPack, a tangible museum exhibit for exploring bio-design. BacPack utilizes tangible tokens on a large multitouch table display to allow visitors the opportunity to participate in a playful bio-design activity-engineering bacteria for sustaining life on Mars. To understand the role of tangible tokens in facilitating engagement and learning with the exhibit, we developed and evaluated two versions of BacPack: one with tangible tokens and one that consists of only multitouch interaction. Results from an evaluation in the Tech Museum of Innovation indicate that tangible tokens provide additional opportunities for collaborative problem solving and impact learning through support for tinkering and experimentation. We discuss design considerations for exhibits that facilitate creative engagement and exploration with biology.
A reliable and efficient DNA storage architecture
DNA has the potential to provide large-capacity information storage. However, current methods have only been able to use a fraction of the theoretical maximum. Erlich and Zielinski present a method, DNA Fountain, which approaches the theoretical maximum for information stored per nucleotide. They demonstrated efficient encoding of information—including a full computer operating system—into DNA that could be retrieved at scale after multiple rounds of polymerase chain reaction.
Science , this issue p. 950
This paper presents an emerging approach to the integration of biological systems- their matter, mechanisms, and metabolisms- into models of interaction design. By bringing together conceptual visions and initial experiments of alternative bio based approaches to sensing, display, fabrication, materiality, and energy, we seek to construct an inspirational discussion platform approaching non-living and living matter as a continuum for computational interaction. We also discuss the emergence of the DIY bio and open source biology movements, which allow non-biologists to gain access to the processes, tools, and infrastructure of this domain, and introduce Synbiota, an integrated, web-based platform for synthetic biology research.
Designers often borrow from the natural world to achieve pleasing, unobtrusive designs. We have extended this practice by combining living plants with sensors and lights in an interactive display, and by creating a robotic analogue that mimics phototropic behavior. In this paper, we document our design process and report the results of a 2-week field study. We put our living plant display, and its robotic counterpart, in a cafeteria between pairs of trash and recycling containers. Contributions of recyclables or trash triggered directional bursts of light that gradually induced the plant displays to lean toward the more active container. In interviews, people offered explanations for the displays and spoke of caring for the plants. A marginally significant increase in recycling behavior (p=.08) occurred at the display with living plants. Apparent increases also occurred at the robotic display and a unit with only lights. Our findings indicate value in exploring the use of living material and biomimetic forms in displays, and in using lightweight robotics to deliver simple rewards.
An optimum method of coding an ensemble of messages consisting of a finite number of members is developed. A minimum-redundancy code is one constructed in such a way that the average number of coding digits per message is minimized.
Addgene plasmid # 78275
- Addgene
Bio art--taxonomy of an etymological monster
- Jens Hauser
A How-To for DIYbio Lab Equipment
- Diybio
Trap it!: A Playful Human-Biology Interaction for a Museum Installation
- Engin Ah Lee Seung
- Alice M Bumbacher
- Nate Chung
- Byron Cira
- Ji Young Walker
- Barry Park
- Paulo Starr
- Ingmar H Blikstein
- Riedel-Kruse
- Seung Ah Lee
bioLogic: Natto Cells as Nanoactuators for Shape Changing Interfaces
- Yao Lining
- Jifei Ou
- Chin-Yi Cheng
- Helene Steiner
- Wen Wang
- Guanyun Wang
- Hiroshi Ishii
- Lining Yao
Messy entanglements: research assemblages in heart transplantation discourses and practices
- Margrit Shildrick
- Andrew Carnie
- Alexa Wright
- Patricia Mckeever
- Emily Huan-Ching Jan
- Enza De Luca
- Ingrid Bachmann
- Susan Abbey
- Dana Dal Bo
- Jennfer Poole
- Shildrick Margrit
DIY Kit Lets You Make Designs Our of Mushrooms
- Wired
Babbage cabbage: Biological empathetic media
- N Owen
- Adrian D Fernando
- Tim Cheok
- Merritt
- L Roshan
- Peiris
- L Charith
- Nimesha Fernando
- Kasun Ranasinghe
- Karunanayaka
- Fernando Owen N